London: People with type 1 diabetes are more likely to break a bone when their average blood sugar levels are dangerously high, a large study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 47,000 people with diabetes, including 3,329 with type 1, the less common form, which typically develops in childhood or young adulthood when the pancreas can’t produce insulin. The rest had type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and ageing and happens when the body can’t properly use or make enough insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. All of these patients were diagnosed with diabetes in the UK between 1995 and 2015. During the study period, 672 people with type 1 diabetes and 8,859 with type 2 diabetes experienced bone fractures.
For type 1 diabetics, the risk of fracture was 39 per cent higher when their average blood sugar levels over time were dangerously high than it was with lower blood sugar levels, the study found. Moderately high average blood sugar didn’t appear to impact the risk of fracture for these patients, however. “In patients with type 1 diabetes, it is important to have good glycemic control, for almost everything and also to prevent fractures,” said Dr Francesc Formiga of Barcelona University. Blood sugar levels didn’t appear to influence the risk of fractures for patients with type 2 diabetes. — Reuters
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